GetItCreations did “The Mandalorian” inspired phone cases. She will be releasing these for samsung by the end of January. She currently has them for iPhone on her website. Please visit her shop on etsy!
I love Mandalorians so much. They’re all digging their own graves all the time and arguing about how this method of grave digging is much better than that OTHER guy’s method of grave digging. Sometimes they get into wars with each other about whose grave is better. It never occurs to them to stop digging.
With The Book of Boba Fett blowing away fans, every Galaxy of Heroes player is hoping to get some new characters added to the mix. From the appearances of all the trailers thus far, it will be heavily based around Boba rebuilding Jabba’s old enterprise, meaning scoundrels will be at the forefront of this series.
Are you wildly unimpressed with the Mandalorian faction? Good. Capital Games wants you to think exactly that. Caution: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Since the faction was formally added to the game earlier this year, you would think that there is some viability-or even use-in areas other than Galactic Challenges. Unfortunately that is not the case; after a shamefully extensive amount of time searching…
We want any interested fan to join us in our thought process and provide input and presentation with The Mandalorian Season 3 and other shows along with the timeline air. This plan will be adjusted as needed. Any exciting fan will be “IN” on the SWAG77 strategic plan, and fans are requested to play along and keep this plan secret (concealed). SWAG77 plans to protect Star Wars fans from toxicity when Star Wars shows air. It also raises thoughtful questions and ideas that the producers find intriguing and willing to entertain for their future projects.
Mandalorians quickly figured out that Jedi mostly view blaster fire as “fun lightsaber practice”.
During the Mando-Jedi wars, they dealt with this in characteristically practical fashion; they used slugthrowers (aka ordinary firearms) instead, because if a Jedi tries to deflect a regular bullet, what happens is “A bunch of bullet shrapnel to the Jedi’s face.”
Jedi or sith; deflects blaster fire
Mando’ade, racking a shotgun; deflect this you wizard bitch
everyone: you can’t beat the jedi. they’ll just deflect your blasters
Contains/Warnings: Violence, implied violence and greivous injury. Chapter Summary: Maul encounters some issues with his business dealings.
Lord of Crime
The young man stood in the dim office, a figure of imposing nature, that was without the mention of the crimson skin swathed in angular black tattoos, and a crown of horns atop his head. His sharp yellow gaze looking out the tinted windows down to the nightclub below; it was silent at this time of day, the cleaning crews and day staff readying for opening that night. His broad shoulders blocked much of what light did come in through the glass, both hands in his pockets as his mind ticked over the mental list of things he had assigned himself that day. Golden eyes surveyed the progress, though in reality he paid little attention to the goings on below.
“I have the contract, Mr. Opress,” spoke a distinguished voice behind him. The man - or more accurately - zabrak turned slowly, he was not rushed by this intruder.
“Have all the changes been made, Almec?” he asked, his voice equally unhurried, enunciated and with a barest hint of sharp edges. He regarded the blond, bearded human with derision. The zabraki man had already been disappointed before, he hoped Almec had not done so again.
“Of course, sir,” Almec replied, if he was afraid he hid it well, “Signed, dated and ready for your signature.” Yellow eyes levelled a flat stare at the man as he took the small stack of papers he was offered and laid them on the desk.
Were he truthful, it was not in fact Almec who was the intruder, it was himself, having arrived for these papers and the final transfer of ownership. The zabrak took out a pen from within his suit jacket and after a quick read to the changes, signed his name on the last page in a quick sharp script;
Maul Opress
Maul straightened, and left the contract where it lay, it was now Almec’s task to take care of it.
“As previously stated, you will retain your position as manager and keep this place running smoothly. I assume you already have a plan for the staff you will keep on?” he didn’t really care but he wanted to see if Almec had taken initiative.
“Yes, of course, I was awaiting the contract finalisation,” the bearded man replied.
“Choose wisely,” Maul said in a mocking tone, “I will hold you personallyresponsible for any failures.” With that he left the office with a smooth gait, there were things to do and he had far more urg–
Bzzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzzz
–his thoughts were interrupted by an incessant vibration in his jacket pocket. He reached in and brought out his phone, the screen lit up with the name of his brother; Savage.
“Yes?” was all Maul spoke in greeting, waiting impatiently for whatever was so damn important.
“We have a problem,” the deep baritone of his bigger but younger brother said, his tone set Maul on edge immediately, he sounded tense. Of coursethere was a problem. When did they not?
“Whatkindof problem?” Maul growled in response.
“Well… you’re gonna be pissed.”
══════════════════
Savage had not been exaggerating. Maul now stood at the entrance to one of the warehouses he and his… associates used for storing various goods they did not wish the authorities to notice.
Or they had.
Currently, he was staring into a building that was mostly empty, signs of a small fire had blackened the far wall, though it was out now and a significant number of his people were taking stock of what was left compared to what was taken.
As his brother had so eloquently put it… Maul was indeed pissed. His fists clenched at his sides and his face a vision of fury. His near-permanent scowl looked more dangerous than ever.
“Who,” he spat, “was in charge of security?” Heavy footfalls announced the arrival of Savage himself, a zabrak standing at nearly seven feet, yellow skin and similar black tattoos, and a crown of horns that stood tall on his head, one of them, the one that sat in the front left was broken however. He towered over Maul who stood at barely 6 feet.
“One of Vizsla’s boys,” Savage grumbled, “looks he was… distracted,” Maul’s eyes flicked up to his brother in questioning. “Uh… a girl,” he didn’t need to explain further. Maul’s tattooed lip curled in disgust at such neglect.
“What was lost?” he asked as the two brothers began to tour the ransacked warehouse. It was a mess, whoever the thieves were, they’d torn through the place.
“Three crates of weapons, and a few pallets of bike parts, that’d already been processed,” Savage replied.
He meant the VIN numbers and all traces where the parts had come from were removed for resale to the various mechanics in the city. It was potentially a million credits minimum lost in just a few hours. Maul’s brow twitched, it wasn’t even about the money, this would have damaging consequences for the reputation of not only himself but of the group that officially owned the warehouse.
“Send for Vizsla, seeing as this is a Mandalorian facility, and one of his people, he should be present for this,” Maul sneered.
TheMandalorians, known mostly as a motorcycle club, had their hand in multiple ventures. Though since Maul had stepped in to take over some years ago, they had expanded from simple petty crimes to something more profitable, and gave them more of a powerful foothold in the city. They were not the only criminal organisation he oversaw, but they were the most powerful.
For the last five or so years he’d clawed his way up from nothing. After his father had discarded him like he was worthless. He’d taken his own path, fought his own battles. He didn’t need the old man…
Now he had a small empire of his own and he would not allow it to fall. This situation had to be dealt with carefully, if word got out ahead of him, it would be seen as a weakness. No, he had to be clever.
He waited, one hand in his trouser pocket, the other shooting off a text message. He had a few enforcers, and he tasked them with finding who had hit the warehouse. Savage returned a few minutes later, behind him was a proud-looking blond man with piercing, arrogant blue eyes. He was clad in his leathers, a sneer barely concealed on his face. He had joined with Maul initially, but he was far from a loyal dog. Maul had been keeping his eye on Vizsla, waiting for him to make the first move.
Behind Savage and Vizsla was a younger man, dark hair and wide eyes, flanked by two burly Mandalorian enforcers, they ensured the kid was going nowhere.
“Who is he?” Maul asked quietly.
“Name’s Saren, Saren Vizsla, he’s a cousin of mine,” Pre Vizsla provided, Maul gave a hint of a nod before turning his attention to the boy.
“You were in charge of maintaining security at this temporary site, were you not?” Maul asked icily. He stared down his nose at Saren, who was now terrified.
As he should be.
“I- I swear it’s not what it looked like! I wasn’t trying– th-there was a girl… I was only gonna be a few minutes, she-she gave me something! I woke up later, bu-but I put out the fire at least!” he sputtered, as though it might save him. Even if the woman had been at fault, he should have known better.
Saren was barely a man… killing him seemed cruel. But if he did nothing, Maul might be accused of going soft. Something far too dangerous in his line of work. Maul’s gaze drifted to the table; the fool was still blubbering but he tuned it out. The golden eyes honed in on a knife laying on one of the tables that had not been overturned. Light scraping from the blade had the boy suddenly silent. The zabrak looked back to the younger man, held by the arms by his comrades, a dark stain on his jeans.
The kid had pissed himself.
“Ithink…” Maul began in a sinister tone, “yes… this will do.” He turned sharply and Saren visibly flinched. What a coward. If that had been Maul and his father– no, this was no time for memories. Maul tossed the blade to Vizsla who looked back at him in confusion. “Cut him,” Maul said simply.
“What?” Vizsla blurted in confusion. Maul refrained from rolling his eyes.
“If he is going to think with his appendages,” and Maul glanced downdeliberately at Saren, “at the detriment to the rest of us. Then he should lose it.” The rest of the men in the room visibly shifted uncomfortably.
“You want meto–”
“Unlessyouwould take the punishment in his stead?” Maul fixed Vizsla with a vicious glare and the man took a step back. “I thought not.” Maul sneered and waved a dismissive hand. Saren could only squeak and whimper as Maul strode past them, “be quick about it.”
The zabrak had no more time to waste on some incompetent idiot, the two brothers departed the warehouse.
Saren began to scream.
Notes: Hello there! Here it is! Part 2 of chapter 1, it is a little shorter but I am not being a stickler for the length this time. I am really loving this story and I am having fun with it, it’s dark and a little evil but I am enjoying it either way! I hope you are too! Let me know what you think, who took the shipment? How is Zaiya going to find him? As always I love comments and feedback so if you have any, please please please send me some, I love it, it gives me strength! I will see you next time, wherein Zaiya meets her new bestie!
The Republic Commando books series mentioned hereandthere that Walon and Jango were closer than Kal and Jango ever had. This is even more interesting if we take into account that the same books made it clear that Vau openly cares only about Mird - and the strill “would defend Vau to the last. It always had.” and“had stood by him since boyhood” [True Colors] what at this point means literal decades now - while struggling with expressing emotions and pride toward his Delta boys (“They were the best special forces troops in the galaxy, and here Vau was, still unable to manage the thank you or well done that they deserved.”) even though he didn’t have much problem to admitting that in fact he did care for them to Etain (“Do you see your men as your sons?“ "Of course I do. I have no others.”, [Triple Zero]) or Kal (“Do you think he knew, Kal? […] Sev. I never told him I was proud of him, and I was. Did he know I loved him every bit as much as you love your boys?”[Order 66]).
In True Colors, Walon himself admitted to “had little time for anyone else, regardless of species” with the exception of Mird, the men of the Grand Army and most likely Jango Fett, for whom he agreed to train army for around decade on Kamino, cut away from the outside world and maybe even Kal Skirata for whatever reason Walon decided to involve him into Jango’s secret project.
The Prima Guide outright described Vau as “borderline sociopathic” - although the little research I did doesn’t sound whole fitting with what we known about Walon (and to be honest, some symptoms/signs sounds more like Kal Skirata than him) but generally speaking, I think we could agree that Walon falls into Antisocial Personality Disorder and thus is not a person that easily forms relationships with other people - he cares about some, but is emotionally stunned, introverted, closed off.
He and Kal managed to bond over the common purpose of saving clone troopers and both went a long way from despiting each other to become close as one Mandalorian could be to another. Both are also influenced by their lasting traumas and the effects can be seen in how they interact with other people (Kal being protective of his “found family”, having some bias toward women and criminal tendencies, Vau not getting emotionally invested for most of time, struggling with putting positive emotions into words of praise for his boys).
Now, let’s talk about Jango. The same as Walon and Kal, Jango’s life was full of misery and hardship that at some (post-Galidraan) point transformed him into a man maintaining little emotional connection to other living beings. The most known exception to this rule was of course little Boba Fett.
The novelization of Attack of the Clones did not include much of Open Seasion’s backstory but all the same underlined Fett’s dispassionate nature.
Quiet moments within the tumult that had beenJango Fett’s entire life, surviving the trials of the Outer Rim alone practically from the day he learned to walk. Each trial had made him stronger, had made him more perfect, had honed the skills that he would now pass along to Boba. There was no one better in all the galaxy to teach his son. When Jango Fett wanted you caught, you were caught. When Jango Fett wanted you dead, you were dead.
No, not when Jango "wanted” those things. This was never personal. The hunting, the killing, it was all a job, and among the most valuable of lessons Jango had learned early on was how to become dispassionate. Completely so. That was his greatest weapon.
He looked at Taun We, then turned to grin at his son. Jango could be dispassionate, except for those times when he could spend time alone with Boba. With Boba, there was pride and there was love, and Jango had to work constantly to keep both of those potential weaknesses at a minimum.While he loved his son dearly-because he loved his son dearly-Jango had been teaching him those same attributes of dispassion, even callousness, from his earliest days.
Internal memo penned by Hali Ke, senior research geneticist, Kamino, 27 BBY(source) also points out Jango’s disdain for human relationship and his asocial yet complex nature:
I have now logged many sessions with our prime clone Jango Fett, and concluded that he embodies his species’ contradictions. He is a killer many times over, ending the life of others without hesitation if paid to do so, yet his anger was obvious when I suggested he lacked morality. He is one of the most able, competent humans I have ever observed, remaining calm in situations that would leave most organics helpless with terror. Yet he witnessed horrors in his childhood that he will not discuss, and around which his mind has constructed apparently impenetrable barriers.
Jango is given to solitude and affects a disdain for human relationships and connections, yet when he agreed to help train our army, he immediately summoned a band of mercenaries who shared his background. And, of course, there is the matter of his fee: Jango seemed barely to care for the considerable sum of five million credits, but was adamant that we create an unaltered clone of himself, whom he now refers to — without a trace of self-consciousness — as his son. I have seen him return to Kamino after killing men for credits, wash the blood out of his starship’s hold, and an hour later be gently talking and playing with young Boba.
(The other trait often mentioned by sources was Jango’s anger that kept him going on despite all tragedies that happened to him, but that deserves a separate analyze in regard to Vau’s training methods and Atin)
There is no one right way for a human to deal with trauma and people process their emotional and psychological problems in various ways. Walon and Jango learned to close off, to cut away the unnecessary emotions and keep to minimal human relationship with exception to Mird and Boba, respectively.
Considering how much Kal was an emotional, extrovert-type of person with strong opinions he liked rant about compared to the two other Mandalorians, it is no wonder that Walon and Jango had better understanding going on between them. Of course, the sources are insufficient to say for sure why and how close they were in the first place but considering the fact that Vau helped Fett to pick up the training sergeants (and by logic, needed to be one of the first if not literally the first to be contacted by Jango), I think it is correct to assume Walon had Jango’s trust and was privy to some of inner matters in regard to clones.
The Republic Commando book series put a lot of blame on Kaminoans for clone troopers’ misery, which in itself is true of course. But the additional information put in the game (loading screens) brought an interesting matter to consider.
According to Taun We, Jango insisted to continue training despite significial fatalities so the “weak” clones could be eliminated. Jango’s true goal was to create a capable army so when the right time comes, Dooku and his Sith Master could destroy the Jedi Order. Walon Vau did not know it then and connected the dots after Order 66 was issued by Chancellor Palpatine.
He however could be privy to Jango’s demands to keep the deadly exercises running without regard for clone troopers’ safety. On one hand, Walon understood the necessity of danger, as he said himself:
On another note, Jango’s insistence to “culling the weak” could be also the vital factor why Vau was so harsh with his trainers and pushed them beyond their limits. Though I do suspect, he may not tell Skirata about Jango’s personal contribution to the deadly program - yes, Skirata was angry at Jango for selling his genes and not caring for the clones beside Boba but the book series did not seem imply that Mandalorian in question was aware of this little detail? Otherwise Kal and Jango could be on even worse terms.
One thing that always struck me about wording, either in POV paragraphs or the Vau’s arguments with Skirata, is how often his commandos are described as “survivors” - or generally speaking the emphasis is on “alive” rather than just the best soldiers. Like Walon really prioritized their survival over the performance.
Skirata gave him the palm-down gesture: Leave it. “Stay useful, Walon.” He beckoned Jusik and Ordo to follow him. “And I hope that Atin’s moved on too, because I won’t stand in his way now."
"How far is too far, Kal? Can you answer that? How far did you go?” Vau called after him. “I made that boy a warrior. Without me, he wouldn’t be alive today."
With him, Ordo thought, Atin very nearly wasn’t.
[Triple Zero]
or
[Etain] turned to Vau. "Do you see your men as your sons?"
"Of course I do. I have no others. It’s why I made them into survivors. Don’t think I don’t love them just because I don’t spoil them like kids."
[Triple Zero]
or
The Sickener, they called it. One more endurance test to make sure they could face conditions that would break and kill lesser men, crawling through a ditch filled with rotting nerf guts.
But there were more tests to come. A night out in Fest-like temperatures; no sleep for three days, maybe more; scant water, a full sixty-kilo pack, and blistering heat; and a lot of pain. Pain, pitiless verbal abuse, and humiliation. A captured commando could expect brutal interrogation. They had to be able to cope without breaking, and it took some imagination to test that to the limit.
How far is too far, Kal?
Vau was much more detached about handing out all that punishment than Skirata could ever be. It was very hard to hurt your sons, even if it helped them survive the unsurvivable.
[Triple Zero]
or
”I raised you to survive. Don’t humiliate me by going soft.“ [True Colors]
or
Skirata remembered it, and didn’t want to. It was training that had to be done. It broke his heart, but it was going to be all that stood between those boys and death sooner or later. They had to be able to face the unimaginable, and-yes, there were even worse things than charging a line of droids with your comrades.
There were the things you might have to face alone, in a locked room, with no hope of rescue.
Maybe Vau was right. Perhaps trainees needed to be brutalized beyond the point where they were just brave, pushed into a state of existence where they became animals intent only on survival. That was how Vau had nearly killed Atin. It was why Skirata had then gone after Vau and nearly killed him.
[Triple Zero]
or
Vau wasn’t used to anything other than instant obedience from his squads. He’d drummed it into them on Kamino, the hard way when necessary. Skirata thought you built special forces soldiers by treats and pats on the head, but it just produced weaklings; Vau’s squads had the lowest casualty rates because he reinforced the animal will lo survive in every man. He was proud of it.
"You did,” Boss said, “but you look like you need a hand. Anyway-you’re not our sergeant any longer. Technically speaking. No disrespect… Citizen Vau."
I was hard on them because I cared. Because they had to be hard to survive. Kal never understood that, the fool.
Vau still had trouble breathing some days thanks to the broken nose Skirata had given him. The crazy little chakaar didn’t understand training at all.
[True Colors]
or
Sev rumbled again. "I still reckon he killed Ko Sai. And I still reckon he got her research, and that’s why he killed her, to shut her up. So yeah, I’d bet on him finding a way to stop us aging so fast.”
Scorch suspected that Vau was as deeply involved in the death of Kamino’s renegade cloner as Skirata; he was still fiercely loyal to Vau, because the man was the reason Delta were all still alive today, one of a handful of squads that had survived intact since the Kamino days. Vau raised survivors. [Order 66]
Walon Vau’s methods were brutal to the point he was sometimes called Old Psycho. But, at the same time, he is so far the only one Mandalorian sarge we know about whose whole batch survived training on Kamino up to battle of Geonosis - and then, somewhere to the first year of anniversary of mentioned battle, lost only three men (Atin’s original squad).
“I’ve lost just three men out of my batch, Kal. That tells me a lot about my methods."
"So I lost fourteen. You making a point?"
"You made yours soft. They don’t have that killer edge."
“No, I didn’t brutalize mine like you did yours, you hut ‘uun.”
[Triple Zero]
According to Making the man: selection and training [Star Wars Insider 84], the single training sergeant had either 25 or 26 squads (four members each) under their supervision. Which means that Walon trained 100 or 104 commandos for 8 years and either none died [according to Triple Zero] or only three cadets died [according to Hard Contact]* in the harsh program nor he killed anyone accidentally during live ammo training (like Skirata did). Additionally, the same article stated that half of 10.000 clone commandos died in the first few months of the war, “largely due to being deployed initially by inexperienced generals as infantry troops rather than as Special Forces”. Considering all of this, Vau’s record is pretty impressive if all his squads (beside Atin’s original one) survived intact the worst few months when many other commandos died.
Of course, we can’t forget his methods alone were brutal and Atin got some of the worst of it:
“Vau nearly killed me, so when I finally got out of the bacta tank, I said I’d kill him one day. Fair enough, yes?“ [Triple Zero]
and how Walon pushed harder those who seemed to him not good enough:
“Look, if Vau felt you lacked the killer edge, he’d crank it up a little. He’d make you fight your brother. We had a choice. We could fight each other until one was too badly hurt to stand up, or we could fight him.” [Triple Zero]
Walon’s brutality and its effect on his boys deserved a separate analysis so for now, important is how Jango was all for “curling the weak”whileVau was set on to raise survivors no matter what. If Vau was privy to inner matters concerning clone training - and Jango’s part in that - I think it is safe to assume he trained his boys in a way they could pass Jango’s high standard and demands.
Surprisingly there is no(?) source implying Fett was displeased with Vau’s brutality - something Kal Skirata personally despited for years - even though we know Jango intervened in the case of Dread Priest’s secret fighting circle due to Mij’s complains. Quite the opposite, it actually looks like Fett was pretty impressive and satisfied with Vau’s results
Jango literally compared Vau’s Delta Squad to his own charges, the Alpha class ARC, who by design were supposed to be better than the commandos and who he trained personally which also raise a serious question about Jango’s own training methods.
The traits he praised, them being deadly, relentless, antisocial andaggressive makes it sounds like Jango and Vau had similar ideas of what the clone special forces should be. Especially the “asocial” is interesting, because this is a personal trait that Fett and Vau share but one that is not actually that good in soldiers. Of course, most squads will work alone, just four brothers against the world, but Triple Zero showed that melting two different teams for one joint operation wasn’t that easy task and Deltas for sure kept their asocial nature as much as it was possible through the whole war.
There is a lot things we don’t know in regard to Jango Fett and Walon Vau, but it seems that character-wise, they understood each other well and instead of blaming Jango for his approach to clones (curling the weak) like Skirata would do, Vau was willing to went a far way to ensure his boys will be ready for whatever Kaminoans (and Jango) had planned for them and survive no matter what, even if he alone died in the process.
Scorch slapped down his own curiosity and told it to behave. He didn’t care how Vau knew. He was just glad that he did and he trusted him, because Vau’s words always came back to him from those first days on Kamino.
Everything I do from this moment on is to make sure you survive to fight. Even if I don’t. [Order 66]
And this brings us to the one thing we know for sure about Walon’s feelings toward Jango. All the brutal training, all the need to create survivors so Vau’s batch will pass Jango’s high expectations and meet his approval may comes from this:
"I let him down once.“ Vau would never shake off that feeling of having failed, the legacy of his vile father. He’d instilled it into his clones, despite himself. ”But I never let him down again.“ [Order 66]
**EDIT**
As was pointed out to me, Atin lost his first squad during training on Kamino according to Hard Contact:
Atin was holding his rifle carefully, a handspan clear of his chest. "I’ve been the last man left standing in two squads now."
"Oh.” Silence. Niner prompted: “Want to tell me how?”
“First squad tried to rescue me on a live range exercise. I didn’t need rescuing. Not that badly, anyway."
"Ah.” Niner felt instantly appalled at himself for thinking Atin didn’t care what happened to Darman. He was just caring too much. “My training sergeant said there was something called survivor’s guilt. He also said that in those cases, having you survive was what your squad wanted.”
My fault for not checking the first book and relying solely on Triple Zero although now I wonder if this some sort of divergence between both books or did I misread the text so bad…?
Thrawn assigned our transparisteel igloos where we could sleep under the Csillan constellations and the polar lights of blue and purple magnetic streams in the night sky. He also gave both of us lounge clothes to relax. We have dedicated caretakers. Not sure I like that.
Suddenly, as I gaze out in the crescendo dusk into night, Thrawn knocks to enter my domicile to see my comfort level. At first, it annoyed me. So I told him the walls are bland and that I plan to vandalize him – err – I mean them.
As told by Lady Kryze to Luke here. Based the mural on the cubist-style ones seen on Sundari from the Clone Wars, and Picasso’s Guernica, which they seem to draw inspiration from. It details what happened after Vader’s battle with Bo-Katan years ago, all of which Luke had no idea about.
